RET Site: Reinvigorating Energy Teaching (RET) via Research with Engineers

University Of Louisville Research Foundation Inc, Louisville KY

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to leverage the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Engineering (ENG) supporting Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science program in order to establish a new RET site and implement a synergistic, triangular partnership between higher education, the public school system, and energy-related industry in the Louisville, KY metro area. The partnership includes faculty from the Colleges of Engineering and Education at the University of Louisville (UofL) host institution and the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) system district. Select science teachers from JCPS will participate in a six-week summer experience working with UofL engineers on energy-related research and education. These teachers will utilize this experience to modify and augment existing science curriculum for the following academic school year and beyond. Energy represents a unifying theme across all scientific domains. Energy describes physical interactions within essentially all scientific systems, and crosses all disciplinary scientific boundaries. The high school teachers will strengthen their perspectives on engineering research, particularly with respect to variations in engineering design, a topic that is part of the high school science standards in Kentucky. They will also have an immersion experience over the 6 weeks of summer that will give them additional ideas and examples of real-world uses and explorations in energy engineering - useful context for incorporating into their existing high school courses. The engineering faculty and graduate students will benefit from a deeper understanding of the context and goals of high school science teaching - schools from which many of the entering engineering students have matriculated. In a context of energy-related environmental, political, and economical concerns of the modern world, experiences to support a stronger energy-literate culture are helpful for all. Subsequent improvements to high school student understandings of fundamental energy concepts and engineering design principles are expected to have a positive impact on student interest in STEM-related careers. The project is to take place over a 3-year period, with 10 JCPS high school science teachers each year participating in the summer energy engineering research labs, and using those experiences to inform their teaching of high school students. The learning experience(s) of the teachers take place in a research-intensive, laboratory-based setting and includes JCPS teachers, practicing engineers from UofL, and representatives from local energy-related industry during a 6-week summer session. Also during the summer session, under the guidance of UofL project personnel, teachers will develop curricular modules informed by their RET experience that will afterwards be incorporated into their classroom practice during the following academic year. Instruction for this RET experience will be focused predominantly on energy science and research, and high school engineering education. Additionally, key aspects of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and engineering design (including the criticality of teamwork and communication) will be featured throughout the program and applied to energy-related activities in an effort to support teacher understanding of energy science. Undertakings during the summer session will be a mix of individual- and cohort-based, and will include research experiences, pedagogical planning, industry presentations and tours, and curriculum development. Teacher support from project personnel will be continuous throughout the academic year(s), and methods have been developed (including website(s), conference presentations and workshops, and social media) to ensure sound dissemination of project deliverables to both the general public and the remainder of the JCPS body. This project is jointly funded by the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.